MTM Posted October 22, 2020 Posted October 22, 2020 After 8 years of playing Flaming Cliffs 2 on an ancient laptop from 2009, I recently built a new gaming PC and dove into DCS: F/A-18C. What a difference 8 years makes! In childhood I dreamed of being a fighter pilot. As a teenager, my parents nurtured that dream and paid for private pilot lessons. In 2001, I started AFROTC at Fresno State University in California. A month later, 9/11 happened and I was more determined than ever. Then one fateful day 19 years ago, the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board sent me a "we regret to inform you" letter. Asthma. Permanently disqualified from military service. Fought it. I got two doctors two say they disagreed with the diagnosis. Got in the best physical shape of my life to prove I didn't have it. Didn't matter. The dream was dead. Eventually, I figured out another path to go down. Devoted myself to school. Met my wife. Got a PhD in Forensic Psychology. Became a father. Lived a different life than the one I envisioned, but still a very good life nonetheless. But I never forgot the dream. I rarely talk about it, but it's something about me that my whole family knows. For years they've been catching me lost in YouTube videos from Wags, the Grim Reapers, Spudknocker, Growling Sidewinder, and BelGeode. Three months ago, for my 38th birthday, my wife and her parents handed me an envelope with $3,000 cash inside and told me "Don't you dare spend it on the kids." I won the lottery when it comes to the family I married into! Learned how to build a gaming computer. Reverb G2 on pre-order. Learning the ins-and-outs of the Hornet until that box from HP arrives sometime in November. Thank you ED! I can't say it enough! Thank you for DCS! I'm completely blown away! Mike 9
HansPeter1981 Posted October 23, 2020 Posted October 23, 2020 Hello Mike and Hello to all DCS Fighter Pilots. I am following this Forum for a year now, but this is the first post I really felt like I have to reply to. Why, because Mike is speaking "out of my soul", we would say in German. I am also 38, I also have kids and family which are currently #1 priority. I also dreamed of being a fight pilot since I was 12 Years old. I played US Navy Fighters, Advanced Tactical Fighters, Some Israel Airforce game and eventually Flanker 2.0 back then. The only difference is, I passed the Medical back in 2001, I actually passed all three phases required to be selected for the Fighter pilot Program of the German Luftwaffe back then. Eventually I was going through conscription and unfortunately(still debating on that myself) my critical mind paired with the right or wrong impressions and stories and ideas made me not signing the contract. (i.e. I witnessed a Pilot loosing his wings being in the same waiting room for our annual medical 2002). Long story short I tried some other directions outside of aviation, regretted it within the first couple of years couldn't get back into the Airforce and eventually ended up 2008 attending Flight School in Canada to become a commercial Helicopter Pilot. I was introduced to DCS by a friend of mine a little over a year ago, who is currently going through fixed wing conversion. What brings us together these days (since we have both very busy lives) is DCS. I think DCS is not just a game. It's a platform for aviation enthusiasts. For myself it allows me to partially experience my dream from back then. And doing I am starting to realized there is so many of us. I also want to Thank ED. Your (home)Simulator (almost don't want to say game) is so good that I caught myself flying my favorite plane (MIG-29S/G) on a server with my friend for a couple hours after a 13 hour working day where I had already flown 4-5 hours in reality for the local forestry department. Keep Up the good work! You guys are working in a DreamFactory! 4 My System specs: Cpu 5800x3d liquid cooled GPU 7900XTX Ram 64GB 3600mhz cl16 Motherboard B550M MSI, Windows 10 PRO on NVMe Drive, DCS on its own SSD, Monitor Philips 32" 4k curved adaptive Sync framerate capped at 59fps, Trackir 5, VKB
ED Team BIGNEWY Posted October 23, 2020 ED Team Posted October 23, 2020 After 8 years of playing Flaming Cliffs 2 on an ancient laptop from 2009, I recently built a new gaming PC and dove into DCS: F/A-18C. What a difference 8 years makes! In childhood I dreamed of being a fighter pilot. As a teenager, my parents nurtured that dream and paid for private pilot lessons. In 2001, I started AFROTC at Fresno State University in California. A month later, 9/11 happened and I was more determined than ever. Then one fateful day 19 years ago, the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board sent me a "we regret to inform you" letter. Asthma. Permanently disqualified from military service. Fought it. I got two doctors two say they disagreed with the diagnosis. Got in the best physical shape of my life to prove I didn't have it. Didn't matter. The dream was dead. Eventually, I figured out another path to go down. Devoted myself to school. Met my wife. Got a PhD in Forensic Psychology. Became a father. Lived a different life than the one I envisioned, but still a very good life nonetheless. But I never forgot the dream. I rarely talk about it, but it's something about me that my whole family knows. For years they've been catching me lost in YouTube videos from Wags, the Grim Reapers, Spudknocker, Growling Sidewinder, and BelGeode. Three months ago, for my 38th birthday, my wife and her parents handed me an envelope with $3,000 cash inside and told me "Don't you dare spend it on the kids." I won the lottery when it comes to the family I married into! Learned how to build a gaming computer. Reverb G2 on pre-order. Learning the ins-and-outs of the Hornet until that box from HP arrives sometime in November. Thank you ED! I can't say it enough! Thank you for DCS! I'm completely blown away! Mike Thank you for your kind words Mike, we hope you enjoy for many more years to come! Best regards 1 Forum rules - DCS Crashing? Try this first - Cleanup and Repair - Discord BIGNEWY#8703 - Youtube - Patch Status Windows 11, NVIDIA MSI RTX 3090, Intel® i9-10900K 3.70GHz, 5.30GHz Turbo, Corsair Hydro Series H150i Pro, 64GB DDR @3200, ASUS ROG Strix Z490-F Gaming, PIMAX Crystal
ED Team BIGNEWY Posted October 23, 2020 ED Team Posted October 23, 2020 Hello Mike and Hello to all DCS Fighter Pilots. I am following this Forum for a year now, but this is the first post I really felt like I have to reply to. Why, because Mike is speaking "out of my soul", we would say in German. I am also 38, I also have kids and family which are currently #1 priority. I also dreamed of being a fight pilot since I was 12 Years old. I played US Navy Fighters, Advanced Tactical Fighters, Some Israel Airforce game and eventually Flanker 2.0 back then. The only difference is, I passed the Medical back in 2001, I actually passed all three phases required to be selected for the Fighter pilot Program of the German Luftwaffe back then. Eventually I was going through conscription and unfortunately(still debating on that myself) my critical mind paired with the right or wrong impressions and stories and ideas made me not signing the contract. (i.e. I witnessed a Pilot loosing his wings being in the same waiting room for our annual medical 2002). Long story short I tried some other directions outside of aviation, regretted it within the first couple of years couldn't get back into the Airforce and eventually ended up 2008 attending Flight School in Canada to become a commercial Helicopter Pilot. I was introduced to DCS by a friend of mine a little over a year ago, who is currently going through fixed wing conversion. What brings us together these days (since we have both very busy lives) is DCS. I think DCS is not just a game. It's a platform for aviation enthusiasts. For myself it allows me to partially experience my dream from back then. And doing I am starting to realized there is so many of us. I also want to Thank ED. Your (home)Simulator (almost don't want to say game) is so good that I caught myself flying my favorite plane (MIG-29S/G) on a server with my friend for a couple hours after a 13 hour working day where I had already flown 4-5 hours in reality for the local forestry department. Keep Up the good work! You guys are working in a DreamFactory! Welcome to the forum, and also thank you for your kind words, we appreciate it. Forum rules - DCS Crashing? Try this first - Cleanup and Repair - Discord BIGNEWY#8703 - Youtube - Patch Status Windows 11, NVIDIA MSI RTX 3090, Intel® i9-10900K 3.70GHz, 5.30GHz Turbo, Corsair Hydro Series H150i Pro, 64GB DDR @3200, ASUS ROG Strix Z490-F Gaming, PIMAX Crystal
A2597 Posted October 23, 2020 Posted October 23, 2020 After 8 years of playing Flaming Cliffs 2 on an ancient laptop from 2009, I recently built a new gaming PC and dove into DCS: F/A-18C. What a difference 8 years makes! In childhood I dreamed of being a fighter pilot. As a teenager, my parents nurtured that dream and paid for private pilot lessons. In 2001, I started AFROTC at Fresno State University in California. A month later, 9/11 happened and I was more determined than ever. Then one fateful day 19 years ago, the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board sent me a "we regret to inform you" letter. Asthma. Permanently disqualified from military service. Fought it. I got two doctors two say they disagreed with the diagnosis. Got in the best physical shape of my life to prove I didn't have it. Didn't matter. The dream was dead. Eventually, I figured out another path to go down. Devoted myself to school. Met my wife. Got a PhD in Forensic Psychology. Became a father. Lived a different life than the one I envisioned, but still a very good life nonetheless. But I never forgot the dream. I rarely talk about it, but it's something about me that my whole family knows. For years they've been catching me lost in YouTube videos from Wags, the Grim Reapers, Spudknocker, Growling Sidewinder, and BelGeode. Three months ago, for my 38th birthday, my wife and her parents handed me an envelope with $3,000 cash inside and told me "Don't you dare spend it on the kids." I won the lottery when it comes to the family I married into! Learned how to build a gaming computer. Reverb G2 on pre-order. Learning the ins-and-outs of the Hornet until that box from HP arrives sometime in November. Thank you ED! I can't say it enough! Thank you for DCS! I'm completely blown away! Mike Love posts like this, flying was a dream of mine as well, but I didn't get nearly as far as you! Flying DCS in VR is as close as I'll ever get to flying these kinds of jets, and I love every minute of it. F-18 is my primary plane as well. One last tidbit, if you have any cash left in that 3k, get PointCtrl. It's easily the best investment for DCS I've made past the headset itself. https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/english/dcs-world-topics/input-and-output/219878-new-vr-pointing-device Welcome to the world of VR Flightsims, see you in the skies!
MTM Posted October 24, 2020 Author Posted October 24, 2020 HansPeter1981, Greetings my German friend (I’m about half German myself coincidentally). When you said you almost don’t want to call it a game, I know what you mean. The term “game” doesn’t seem to fit. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your story. See you in the skies my friend!
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